Information on working terriers, dogs, natural history, hunting, and the environment, with occasional political commentary as I see fit. This web log is associated with the Terrierman.com web site.

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

German Raccoon-Dog, Badger and Raccoon Hunting

Frank, badger and dachshunds.Frank Joisten, from Germany, sent in some terrific pictures of his dachshunds working everything from badger and raccoon-dog (Tankuki) to American raccoon and fox. One of my favorite pictures is below, showing not only his take this eventful day, but also some very well-disciplined dogs!

Dog, dog, badger, dog, badger, dog, dog.

Frank lives in the northeast corner of Germany, near the Polish border, and is blessed with both badger and red fox, but also raccoon-dog, which were imported to the Ukraine from Korea and Japan, and which have now migrated into Finland, Poland and parts of Germany.

An amazing take of raccoon-dog!

American raccoon have also been imported to Germany.Frank also has some American raccoon in his area -- a legacy of animals brought to Germany in the 1930s in the hope of expanding the domestic fur industry.

Digging to raccoon-dog (aka Tanuki)Frank reports that his dachshunds have a chest of 35 cm (13.78 inches). The Germans are very precise about chest measurements, as they understand that for a dog to be a "gebrauchshund" (i.e. a "useful" hunting dog), it cannot be too big to fit into a tight den, nor can it be so nose-dead as to be unable to find in the field. Along with size and nose and gameness, a German working dachshund has to show that it is also not gun shy.

One of the great things about terrier work all over the world is that while it is a bit different all over, it is also quite a bit the same. The picture, above, could have been taken in the U.S., Germany, Finland, England, Canada or France -- the hunched over walk of a man with a locator box is the same all over!